HKUST vs UBC

[dire osprey]

Schools: Hong Kong University of Science and Tech & University of British Columbia
Intended major: CS
Similarities: Highly ranked in respective countries

HKUST
Pros:
#1 for CS in HK #3 in Asia ignoring the Chinese Unis
Located on the coast so good weather
Comparatively low COA (33k)
HK is comparatively closer to my home country (India)

Cons:
Language Barrier (I am an intl student)
Comparatively less job opportunities for non Cantonese/mandarin speakers
Way too competitive to get CS major in 2nd year
Not a lot of social life and courses are comparatively rigorous (People have called it to be depressing)

UBC
Pros:
Good Job Opportunities
Decent Weather and lower COA as compared to other parts of CA
CS Program is decent and easier to get
Student culture and social life is good (have a few friends who might be attending it with me)
Longer breaks between Terms/Semesters

Cons:
Rent in Vancouver is high
COA is almost 50% higher than HKUST

Tiebreaking considerations:
Leaning towards UBC cause of good student culture and better job opportunities but I feel CS is more about skills and the COA difference is considerable and HKUST in itself is also a good uni

[split flicker]

You should choose the university where you'll actually be able to study what you want

Which seems to be UBC in your case

[tender void]

i think you should definitely choose UBC, you have a guaranteed CS major compared to having no idea whether you can study what you want at HKUST. also even though UBC is further from you, you'd probably feel quite isolated if you don't speak or are still learning Cantonese at HKUST. Plus, the language barrier would make classes really hard

[wanton pond]

i thought hkust classes are in english?

[tender void]

oh my bad. that’s more of a case for HKUST then but possible social issue/issue with going into the city

[empty glacier]

u can't go wrong with both options imo if they are both affordable. i'd personally choose hkust to save money as u have said cs is more about skills